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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26188174">Crosspaths</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lori_yuy/pseuds/lori_yuy'>lori_yuy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Death, F/M, Friendship/Love, Sad Ending, Self-Sacrifice, Trust</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:47:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,583</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26188174</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lori_yuy/pseuds/lori_yuy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aerith missed the constant presence of the Turk who watched her most of her life.  She still feels out of place and shies away from her new companions on their travels, but finds out soon enough that she was never alone.  A chronology about the run-ins she had with her watcher while on travel.</p><p>Warning: Contains spoilers from Original FF7 game, proceed with caution if you've only played the Remake.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough/Tseng, Elena &amp; Tseng (Compilation of FFVII), Rufus Shinra &amp; Tseng, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Crosspaths</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is loosely tied to my other piece, Melting Memories.  I'm playing loose with canon storyline, so Zack is alive in this story.  I'm messing with the order of events from the Original game.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aerith Gainsborough stepped out of the shade of the tree that protected her and her party from the rain that had just stopped.  Her adventures had just barely begun but she was already seeing the beauty of the world that Zack had raved to her about many years ago.  She's known her four travel companions for all of two weeks, the 'rag tag group of misfits', as Heidegger had called them.  Although they were all friendly to her, Aerith could not help but feel like she was an outsider.</p><p>Every time she caught sight of Tifa leaning into Cloud while on break, every time Barret treated Red XIII like a pet parent talking to his dog baby, every time Barret gave Tifa a bear of a hug, like a father caring for his daughter, she felt like the official fifth wheel in their party.</p><p>She had always been 'the weird girl who talked to the flowers'.  Other kids her age shunned her because they thought she was creepy. She had given up on making friends a long time ago.  To her, there was only one 'friend' with whom she found a complex companionship in. A certain Turk who would listen to her quietly and not judge her.</p><p>She had felt a strong pang of nostalgia when her new travel companions reminded her of ice cream a few days ago. She found her thoughts turning back to the Turk often after that.  She missed the one who kept watch over her as if he was her own personal guardian. Tseng. He had been a constant presence, a protective force within the shadows for as long as she remembered.  Aerith had been under his watch for so long that it feels unnatural without it. She could always tell when he was present even when he was trying to be stealthy.  She often engaged in one-way conversations with Tseng, knowing he was there and listening. He rarely responded, but had come out of the shadows when she started writing letters to Zack.</p><p>She didn't know how long this trip they were taking will last, but Sephiroth had to be stopped.  She understood when she communed with the planet that her role was too big, too important for her to shy away from the responsibility.  The planet needed her. All the living things on the planet needed her. She alone carried the burden of the survival of this world.</p><p>Although she faced the realities alone, she soon found out that her friend in the shadows had never left her.</p><p> </p><p>~...~</p><p> </p><p>The chase after Sephiroth had brought them upon a mining mountain, the Mythril mines.  They had encountered the Midgar Zolom earlier and found it slayed by Sephiroth's sword, leaving a bloody mess of a snake behind for all to see.  They were about to leave the cavernous areas when a blond spunky girl in a Turks uniform showed up on the ledge above them.  The familiar sight of the suit made something ache in Aerith's heart. They had engaged in a conversation with her.  She was talkative and energetic and shared all her knowledge of Sephiroth's whereabouts with them. This was more to their advantage, Aerith supposed.</p><p>Rude's head poked out of the caverns above soon after. Of course the Turks were trailing her. What was she expecting?  She smiled at the thought. She's always had a special relationship with the Turks.  Although it was mostly because of her Ancient heritage, she had come to depend on them in the long years that they've watched her.  She sold flowers in Sector 8 because it was the jurisdiction of the Turks, and she knew she was always protected from harrassment, kidnapping attempts, or otherwise unsavory men attempting to hit on her.</p><p>"Oh by the way, I have something for you, Ancient Girl!" The female Turk pipped up as she looked at Aerith.  The others looked at her in confusion while Aerith didn't even blink.</p><p>A small package of something was thrown down from the caverns above, landing at Aerith's feet. She looked down to see what it was.</p><p>Vanilla flavored mint candy. There was only one person she knows who would get her something that impersonates the flavor of her favorite summer treat.  Her heart was aflutter but she was a little angry about the way the present was given. She picked up the bag of candy and chucked it back at the lady Turk defiantly.</p><p>"Tell him to give it to me personally next time." Aerith huffed and turned her back as Elena struggled to catch the bag without dropping it.</p><p>"Elena, you've said too much." Tseng's deep voice pulled Aerith's attention right back towards the cave entrance above.</p><p>"Hm...Aerith, I haven't seen you in a long time, but I'm happy to see that you're doing well." He took the bag of candy from Elena's hands.  "Since you asked to have this be delivered personally...catch." He tossed the bag of candy down the ledge again.</p><p>This time, Aerith caught and held onto the small pack of sweets. "Hmph. Accepted."</p><p>She watched curiously as Elena seemed to be overreacting to Tseng touching her hands earlier.  All these years she worried about his lack of emotions, thinking he would never end up dating, but maybe he had a chance afterall with someone having an obvious crush on him. Aerith smiled secretly as Tseng turned around and guided Elena by the small of her back and left with Rude in tow.</p><p>"Reno's got a new mag rod...we might not be enemies at the moment, but be aware that Reno will be back for his revenge." Tseng's voice rang out to them from above. Aerith sighed and shook her head. They had beaten Reno up pretty badly on the Sector 7 plate, but it sounds like he's at least recovered.  She turned around to the dubious expression on the faces of her travel companions.</p><p>"Are you really gonna take that?" Cloud asked finally.</p><p>"What?" Aerith replied in a tone a little more harsh than she intended.</p><p>"You're seriously taking stuff from the Turks?" Cloud replied while pointing to the bag in her hand.</p><p>"It's just candy." Aerith shrugged as she popped one into her mouth. The creamy taste of vanilla and the sharp coolness of the mint hit the spot.</p><p> </p><p>~...~</p><p> </p><p>They struck a few Shinra troopers who weren't paying attention, took their uniforms, and disguised themselves in preparation to infiltrate the marching band for the inauguration parade. When they left the bathroom of the bar, Aerith had a little scare. There sitting at the counter were the Turks with Tseng leading.  She shouldn't have been surprised to see him in Junon since he had always followed the new Shinra president around since long ago. She gave the rest of the party a push to try to get them to move out quickly from the Turks' view. Tseng turned around on his bar chair before she could get out of his sight. Their eyes locked and Tseng's face twisted with amusement before he turned back around. So he was ignoring the fact that he just saw her in a Shinra trooper uniform and not to mention saw Red XIII standing on his hind legs with his fire tail sticking out from a hole they ripped into the pants of one of the uniforms.</p><p>They marched along with the parade and attended the inauguration speech, during which she saw Barret scowling in the back the entire time.  Nobody could deny that Rufus had a knack for show and that he was charismatic and picturesque for the cameras rolling.</p><p>"Gyahahahaha!!" An annoying but familiar laughter came from the front next to the new President.</p><p>Aerith grimaced as she watched Heidegger grin with his overly wide jaw. Tseng was to the other side of Rufus, looking professional as always.</p><p>"Stop with that stupid horse laugh." The new President said flatly to the larger man.</p><p>Tseng's expression stayed serious, but Aerith could tell he was breaking inside trying not to laugh.  She remembered when Tseng finally opened up to her years ago and telling her about his other charge, who is now President Rufus Shinra.  She smiled at the image the two projected. They were like a pair of friends who fed off of each other's awful dry sense of humor, she mused.</p><p>When she looked at them again, Tseng and Heidegger were locked in a battle of will, eyeing each other aggressively with open disgust.  Ah that's right...there was bad blood between the two.</p><p>Her companions were surprised when they successfully infiltrated and snuck onto the ship that Rufus was on but she knew.  She honestly felt a sense of calm as she was in the presence of the one whom she considered her own companion.  She looked back at him standing at attention next to the President and knew that he knows they're there but didn't say anything to give them away.  Perhaps he didn't think of them as a threat. And she later found out he was right...Sephiroth, the bigger menace, was onboard the same ship.</p><p> </p><p>~...~</p><p> </p><p>"You don't happen to know what happened to my son, do you Mr. SOLDIER?" The elderly mother pleaded at Cloud, with sky blue eyes so familiar to Aerith that it hurt.</p><p>They had happened upon the family of Zack Fair on their journey when passing through Gongaga. The realization that she was talking to Zack's parents hit her hard.  She didn't have the heart to tell them what happened to their son as it was obvious that Zack never kept up contact after his "disappearance".  Cloud apparently had no memories of when Zack saved him to Aerith's surprise. Aerith did not feel it was her place to say she dated him as she did not want to accidentally bring out pain for his parents and also did not want to pull any feelings of kinship towards herself.</p><p>She was still thinking about the encounter with Zack's parents when a flock of high-leveled drakes swooped down on the party on the trail out of Gongaga towards its failed reactor. The flock was too big for them to handle all at once. Cloud yelled for them to scramble as the party tried to strategically pull the flock apart towards different directions. Aerith ran and ran, but a blast of ice that a pursuing drake sent flying her way froze her shoes in place. She panicked and screamed as the drake swooped down with its sharp talons aimed straight at her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut and awaited the inevitable attack that will disable her if not take her down entirely.</p><p>No pain came to her however. She felt a warm hand wrap around her from behind and heard gunshots aimed upwards before the shrill screech of the drake made her open her eyes again. "Fall back." The familiar honey-toned voice sounded next to her ears.  She turned her head to see Tseng's arms wrapped around her waist as he hoisted her up quickly, dislodging her from the ice locking her to the ground. She watched in awe as he dodged, zoomed past, and aimed a shot directly through the head of the drake.  This was perhaps the first time she's seen him in active combat and it was a show.</p><p>"Tseng, why are you here?" She implored once he locked and holstered his gun.</p><p>"Shinra Business." He replied curtly. "...Zack would never forgive me if I didn't help you when you're in trouble." He added before walking away.</p><p>"Wait!" There was a lot she wanted to say but he was already gone.</p><p>When they regrouped, Red XIII came up to her and sniffed her out like a normal dog would.  He sat back on his hind legs and gave her a look. She avoided the weirded out gaze from her travel companions.  The lion-dog creature likely detected Tseng's scent on her. She was relieved when Red chose not to comment and they continued their way towards Gongaga's reactor.</p><p>They hid behind a wall as they heard a male and female voice come up behind them.  Tseng walked by with one of the female Shinra executives as they talked about huge materia.  The party listened in with interest, as they were on the same path as Shinra. Red XIII's nose was twitching as he recognized the scent of the male that had lingered on Aerith earlier.  Tseng paused as he passed them on the way back out. He shot a look in their general direction before moving again, following the femme fatale out of the reactor. </p><p>Aerith sighed. He was there for Shinra work afterall. She had wanted to talk to him about Zack. She felt that Zack was still somewhere out there, and Tseng would be the most reliable source of information on Zack's whereabouts. Tseng was probably not going to tell her even if he knew however.</p><p>"That was CLOSE!" the little cat robot voiced after they left.</p><p>"We almost ran into the Turks at the entrance of Gongaga too!" Tifa wallowed as she remembered the blush that spread across the bald Turk's face when he admitted he liked her without knowing she was there and listening. Nobody suspected the little cat at that moment of being a Shinra spy.</p><p> </p><p>~...~</p><p> </p><p>Her piercing scream raised the heads of both Vincent and Red XIII. The party was down in the valley of Cosmo Canyon when a family of Behemoths charged at them after their wagon broke down.  Her fluttering thick braid of hair had apparently alerted and pissed off the mother of the pack for some reason and it was now chasing her down the valley.  Vincent and Red grunted in frustration as they tried to tear away to help her, but the male of the pack was bearing down upon them.</p><p>A swipe of her powerful paws threw Aerith off her feet several yards away as she skidded into the red dirt, her face now bleeding and hands and knees scratched up raw on the unforgiving canyon ground. Sharp shreds of pain ripped through her body.</p><p>"AERITH!!!" She heard the rest of her party yell in concern for her.</p><p>BANG!<br/>BANG! BANG! BANG!</p><p>Aerith felt the warmth of a Curaga casted upon her to patch up her wounds.  She looked up to see the wafting smoke of a gun from a vantage point above on the cliffs before a familiar flare of dark hair turned around and left.  She crawled off her knees and stood up in time to see the female Behemoth dissolve into the Lifestream.</p><p>Vincent looked up to the cliff as he heard the sounds of a gun go off near where Aerith was. Aside from himself, nobody else was a handgun user in their party.  He saw the accurate shots aimed at the female Behemoth that had swiped Aerith off her feet. He'd know that kind of aim anywhere. It was the same kind of aim he had.  The boy that was trained under Veld so long ago, now a Turk in all his glory, proudly wore the black suit. Vincent knit his eyebrows together as he squinted at the shadow of the man moving away after he had saved Aerith. The Turks have always had honor, but it was more loyalty to Shinra that they were known for. Vincent did not understand why the younger Turk was helping them out, no, it was more helping Aerith out.</p><p>Red XIII sniffed at the air, recognizing both the scent of gunpowder and the now recognizable scent of the man.  He frowned as he looked beyond towards where Aerith was. The unknown Turk had rescued her once again, for reasons he didn't know, and left just as mysteriously as before.</p><p>Barret was not so pleased however. "What the HELL is a Turk doing trailing us?" He spit out harshly in the direction of where Tseng had disappeared.  Cloud and Cid looked equally dubious, but Tifa seemed to have picked up that something was up when she took a look at Aerith and saw that she didn't show signs of being injured anymore.  She nodded to the girl with the braided hair as she remembered the expression Aerith had on her face when she looked at Tseng while they were on the plate. There was something between the two, as Elmyra had told them about the man being around since Aerith's childhood.  The men on their team were dense to the intricacy of such a relationship as Tifa surmised so she kept quiet.</p><p> </p><p>~...~</p><p> </p><p>The trail to find the keystone to the Temple of the Ancients brought them to the Gold Saucer.  They had scrounged up barely enough money to keep up with accommodations in every place they came across, so they tried to save money by piling their growing party into just a couple of rooms.</p><p>They decided to split the party across two rooms at the Gold Saucer's hotel for the evening. Cloud, Barret, Cid, and Vincent were to be in one room, while Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, and Red XIII ended up in the other.  Cait Sith told them he was good just hanging out at the theme park since he was a robot anyways.</p><p>Tifa and Cloud went off on their own after dinner, so did Cid and Vincent. Cait Sith was nowhere to be found.  Barret went out to the town outside for something that he didn't explain and Red decided he just wanted to nap in the hotel room.  That left just her and Yuffie. Yuffie, their newest addition, was a chatterbox and talked everyone's ears off.</p><p>"So what made you come out here on an adventure Aerith?" the curious ninja asked as she wolfed down a triple scoop of ice cream.  Aerith couldn't really explain the whole Sephiroth thing to her and she did not want to mention the role she has to play.</p><p>"I guess I just wanted to see the world for myself." She said in a half-truth.</p><p>Yuffie nodded in agreement. "That's honestly why I left home too. Though I'm out here hunting for materia."</p><p>She was childish and talkative, but Aerith found that Yuffie was actually a caring and wellrounded person despite her greediness when it comes to materia.  She DEFINITELY was not going to show the girl the materia that was hidden in her hair. She left the girl to eat her ice cream in peace.</p><p>A curtain of black hair caught her eyes as she was returning to their room, entering a different room just down the hall.  She opened the door to the room and poked her head in. Red XIII opened his good eye to peek at her.</p><p>"Hey Red...um...I might not be back tonight, but I'll be fine okay?" She mumbled and shut the door again before Red could question her.</p><p>She took in a deep breath and knocked on the door down the hall. The barrel of a gun was pointed at her when the door opened.  Tseng disengaged the weapon when he saw who was at the door.</p><p>"Aerith."</p><p>"May I come in?"</p><p>He nodded and let her into his room.</p><p>"Why are you following us?" She asked pointedly as he sat down on the couch.</p><p>"I'm not following you, I'm here for work." He replied as curtly as usual.</p><p>"Uh huh...and you just HAPPEN to check in at the same hotel at the same time?" Aerith fought back in defiance.  He sighed and patted the seat next to him. "I'm really actually here for work Aerith..."</p><p>She sat down and leaned into him. "Tell me, do you know where Zack is?"</p><p>The sudden proximity and the question made him let out a small gasp but he regained his composure quickly. "Hmph...sharp as ever I see."</p><p>"Are you going to tell me or not? I know he's alive!" Her expression turned desperate as she pleaded with her emerald eyes.  Tseng's lips flattened and he stayed quiet long enough that Aerith thought he wasn't going to talk to her.</p><p>"He...was shot down near Midgar." He stated quietly.  "He's currently hidden way for his own safety."  Aerith was quiet as she processed the tidbits that Tseng finally let out after all these years.</p><p>"So you knew afterall....did you save him?" Tseng's silence only confirmed what she suspected.</p><p>"Enough about that, how's your life been?" Tseng diverted the uncomfortable subject.</p><p>"Well...we just picked up this talkative girl a few weeks ago, she's from Wutai and claims to be the princess."</p><p>"Huh. So the materia thief's a Kisaragi."</p><p>"....Tseng, what did you just say about not following us?" She hit him in the arm playfully. His lips quirked up a little at her chiding.</p><p>"Cloud's cute but well he's kind of oblivious to other people's feelings. Cid curses too much but he's got many dreams he's going for.  Red is...well he's fluffy and kind of cute. He's very curious about us humans you know?"</p><p>"Hm...the other escaped sample from Hojo's lab huh." Tseng remembered when the Turks had been ordered to capture the creature at Cosmo Canyon years ago. </p><p>Aerith ignored that comment. "Tifa is like a sister, she understands me a little more and is a very caring person. Barret is loud and sometimes obnoxious but he's like a father figure to us all.  And Vincent is..."</p><p>"an ex-Turk. The former Director's ex-partner." Tseng finished for her. Aerith looked at him curiously.  "I was only a kid when he was still around....he hasn't aged a day." he trailed.</p><p>"YOU haven't aged a day Tseng..." Aerith retorted.  "And Cait Sith...I don't know what to think about him."</p><p>Something dark flashed in Tseng's eyes and it unnerved Aerith. She wondered what he was thinking about.</p><p>"And you? How are you holding up with a diverse team like that?" Tseng asked genuinely.</p><p>"I..." Aerith concentrated as she thought about herself. "I still feel like an outsider even after all these months."</p><p>Tseng nodded, understanding completely where she was coming from. She had always been socially distant from her peers.  Being in a team that large must be very intimidating and despite Aerith's bubbly mischievous personality, she was actually shy.</p><p>"Can I sleep here tonight?" she asked suddenly. "We're sharing a tiny room and there'd be four of us trying to squeeze into a bed and a couch."</p><p>Tseng's expression was unreadable. "You want to crash in my room?" He asked dubiously as she nodded in reply. "What about your companions, won't they be worried?"</p><p>"I told one of them I might not be back tonight." She said as she snuggled up to him. "Besides, I miss talking to you."  This was entirely unfair as Aerith knew Tseng had a crush on her. "How's things going with the new Turk lady?"</p><p>Tseng's expression turned blasé. "Elena's still new and inexperienced. I have to give her a lot of guidance on the field."</p><p>"I'm not talking about how she is at her work Tseng, she likes you, you know?" Aerith teased as she saw a slight look of dismay on Tseng's face. "Do you not like her?"</p><p>"She's too young." Tseng replied and looked away.</p><p>"I'm young too?" Aerith prodded as she closed the gap between them.</p><p>"She's not my type." He reasoned unconvincingly.</p><p>"You're just not giving her a chance..." Aerith said before she planted a kiss on his lips.</p><p>He flinched but did not pull away. "Aerith...what about Zack?"</p><p>"Zack hasn't contacted anyone in years, he is dead to the world as far as most are concerned..." She replied.</p><p>"I gave him your letters....you're going to break his heart." Tseng managed in between her kisses.</p><p>What he was saying didn't really matter...soon enough, she was going to break everyone's heart with what the planet was telling her. She at least wanted to feel the intimacy of someone familiar whom she cared for before her inevitable end. He gave into her touch and kisses when she put her full weight onto his chest without hesitation.  They made out for a long time on the couch, light feathery touches lighting fires as emotions flew high between the two, the scent of each other intoxicating both. "Take me to bed..." Aerith whispered into his ears as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>The following morning, Tseng was gone, leaving Aerith on the large bed in the middle of an empty room.  When she entered the theme park, her travel companions were looking at her with worried eyes.</p><p>"AERITH!!" They chimed in unison.</p><p>"Where did you go last night? Are you alright??" They peppered questions at her left and right. She exchanged a look with Red XIII, whose expression betrayed nothing.  So he didn't tell them she was going to be gone?</p><p>Red could smell the Turk on her, lingering stronger than ever, mixed with the scent of love-making this time.  Feigning ignorance was easier than explaining where Aerith was to Tifa and Yuffie last night when he picked up the scent of the Turk from the hallway.  Vincent equally narrowed his eyes at her when he came closer, probably because of Gallian Beast also picking up on Tseng's scent.</p><p>"Where's Cait Sith?" Aerith asked all of a sudden when she scanned the party.</p><p>"...he stole the keystone." Barret sputtered bitterly. "Damned thing was a Shinra spy all along!"</p><p>Cloud looked troubled. "He did apologize however...he gave your Turk the keystone."</p><p>So they knew Tseng had been there. Wait, when did they start referring to him as "YOUR Turk"? As if he was hers.</p><p> </p><p>~...~</p><p> </p><p>They pursued after Tseng to the Temple of the Ancients, but found him at the entrance bloodied with a large gash cut across his torso.  Only one sword they knew of could have done that. Aerith watched in horror as he bled out, gasping small breaths of air at a time, eyelids fluttering wildly as he was losing consciousness.  He pulled out the keystone and handed it to Cloud. Aerith faced away from the man who took her virginity and showed her intimate pleasure the night before.  She sensed that this was the last time she'll ever see him...and it broke her heart that it was to see him dying, sitting in a pool of his own blood.  No, he was going to be okay, something told her, but seeing him badly hurt still caused tears to sting in her eyes. They left him at the entrance.</p><p>The pool of concentrated spiritual essence showed them what happened. He had asked Elena out on a dinner date before Sephiroth appeared and stabbed Tseng with his sword mercilessly.  Aerith closed her eyes slowly at the ghastly image.  She knew he was going to be alright...and Elena was going to be there alongside him.</p><p> </p><p>She did not shed a tear for herself as she kneeled in the praying position at the City of the Ancients.  Seven seconds passed as the white materia activated. The sharp edge of the long sword pierced through her then just like she expected.  It was already too late for Sephiroth. HOLY has been invoked in its entirety.</p><p>The shadow who always saved her was no longer there to protect her. She knew with all her heart that he was somewhere safe as she took her last breath.  It was now her turn to protect him and all the people who mattered to him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm crying too.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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